Internet security software outfit BitDefender has struck a national marketing and distribution agreement with Focus Multimedia in the UK. Focus, a software publishing house specialising in home computer and small office products, will push BitDefender products into major UK retailers over the coming weeks.
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Security has become a buzzword in the IT market, driving a significant amount of solution sales in the EMEA reseller channel. There is an art to selling security solutions and luckily for resellers, one VAD has stepped up to the plate to offer some practical tips for increasing security sales. Computerlinks offers its top tips for selling security solutions, which formed the basis for a recent two-day reseller event at Chelsea Football Club, London.
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BenQ has appointed BDL as a premium distribution partner for its Joybook notebook series in the UAE. Joybook notebooks have had a tough time cracking the competitive UAE notebook market in recent years, but with BDL on board, BenQ reckons it can achieve double-digit growth in 2008 and claim a top five vendor spot in the UAE by the year-end.
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Ideas Revenue Optimisation – a provider of hospitality revenue management solutions – has appointed Parkernology, RM Solutions and Protel as distribution partners in South Africa, Switzerland and Turkey respectively. The newest channel partners will assume responsibility for the integration and service of Ideas solutions within their markets.
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Al Masa IT Distribution hopes to tap into the fast-growing Saudi Arabian IT market, which it predicts will be worth almost US$4bn per annum within three years. Al Masa, a Middle East distribution heavyweight, has gained support from many of its major vendor partners as it attempts to crack the Kingdom’s channel and boost sales within the Saudi Arabian market.
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Distribution giant Avnet plans to snap up Horizon Technology Group for €101.3m (US$159m) cash. The offer, which works out at €1.18 per share, represents a massive 153.8% premium on Horizon shares closing price of €0.465 the day before the offer was acknowledged. Horizon’s directors are unanimously recommending that shareholders accept the Avnet offer, which values Horizon at a price-earnings ratio of 17.2 based on full year 2007 after tax profits.
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UK-based Gamma Global – an independent IT hardware distributor – has secured US$25m additional funding from Bank of Scotland Corporate. Gamma plans to double its sales to US$200m by 2010 and is also planning to expand through acquisitions. Gamma, which is located in Manchester, now employs more than 50 people, works with more than 1,000 resellers and trades in more than 50 countries.
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Distribution behemoth Ingram Micro has signed a distribution deal with VMware for the Nordic region. Ingram will offer the full breadth of VMware’s virtualisation solutions to its IT reseller base in the region. The deal builds on Ingram Micro’s existing distribution agreements with VMware covering Germany, North America and Australia.
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